As the EPL big boys still complete the last few friendlies before the new season starts for them, football burst back in a big way with the start of the Sky Bet Championship.
This year perhaps more than ever, the second tier of English football seems stronger than previous seasons. The quality of the sides that came down from the EPL last season and the plethora of promotion worthy clubs still in this division will no doubt make it the most competitive league in the England in 2013-2014.
The opening weekend had some interesting ties lined up with Burnley versus Bolton standing out as the cream of the crop. It didn’t fail to deliver with a 1-1 draw, at Turf Moor in the local derby match. As the season goes on, both clubs will be expected to push hard for two of the playoff spots.
Relegated sides QPR, Reading and Wigan all picked up three points on the opening day. QPR battled from behind to see off Sheffield Wednesday 2-1 at Loftus Road with the help of Onuoha and Johnson. Wigan hammered ten man Barnsley away 4-0 with Scottish international Maloney grabbing one of the goals.
Reading managed to get by Ipswich in a difficult encounter at home after conceding first in the match. Three very strong sides dropped down last season but it is very clear that it wouldn’t be a long shot for all three to make it straight back up.
Newly promoted side Doncaster Rovers fell at home to Blackpool and Tom Ince 3-1, but Bournemouth and Yeovil came up big in their first matches in the Championship since they were promoted winning 2-1 at home to Charlton and 1-0 away to Millwall respectively. It’s far too soon to judge if any of the new sides will be able to put enough points on the board this season to stay up but Bournemouth and Yeovil will have sent their fans home very happy on Saturday night with the early three points.
One of the early favourites for promotion, Nottingham Forest grabbed a 1-0 victory thanks to a 2nd half Landsbury goal against Huddersfield. Brian McDermott’s Leeds side kicked off the new season with a solid 2-1 win over Brighton at Elland Road. Troy Deeney grabbed an early first half goal to give Watford a 1-0 win over Birmingham. Zola’s side will be looking to bounce back this season after they came so close to promotion last year.
To round off the Saturday games, Leicester scored twice within a seven minute spell in the second half to beat Middlesbrough 2-1.
Derby and Blackburn went at it on Sunday afternoon with the home side sneaking a 1-0 lead thanks to new signing Russell’s penalty strike late in the first half. Blackburn would wait until the 89th minute before Leon Best to level the game and give both teams a share of the spoils.
All in all an exciting start to the season and a clear indication that for pure entertainment the Championship might be a good bet to follow all season.
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